A Black Experience
by Mizz-Black
Summary: Sirius had many lovers, but two are foremost in his mind. Haughty Bellatrix and the loving Lily. This deals with the whole life and lovers of Sirius Black, beginning at Hogwarts. R for swearing, possibly later chaps. SPOILERS, please r
1. watching and shadows

Disclaimer- I don't own any of these characters etc. etc. J.K. Rowling does. All I own is the plot line. Please don't sue me.

Chapter 1- Watching and shadows   
The red haired girl tossed her head in the wind, causing a wave of auburn curls to flutter about her. The black Hogwarts robes served only to accentuate her pale, delicately carved features and bright green eyes. She laughed out loud at something one of her friends had whispered to her, as they sat beneath a sprawling oak tree besides the lake. This behaviour was common for her; she was always laughing, always cheery, to everybody, even the Slytherins who taunted her at every opportunity.

The NEWTs had finished that day and, naturally, all of the seventh years had swarmed out onto the grounds to enjoy the summer sunshine. Lily Evans was the most vibrant, caring witch of her age. A prefect, head girl, astonishingly beautiful, the smartest girl in the year and to add to it all, she was dating James Potter. She was the envy of all the girls in school. Most of the male population had a soft spot for the caring Lily, too. As she sat beneath the oak, the sunbeams running up and down her body, she caught sight of him. He was gazing at her with the other three. His dark hair lay about his face, and he crossed his arms in challenge. She looked away, contemptuous.

He observed her, with a hungry gleam in his eye, seated in shadows with his own three dear friends. Sirius Black was the male equivalent of Lily Evans. Although James was the star of the group, with his Quidditch skills and role of head boy, it was an undoubted fact that the boys of Hogwarts found their role model in the form of the dark, handsome Sirius Black. They copied his hairstyle; they copied his clothes and his nonchalant attitude. Everywhere you turned in Hogwarts, you were guaranteed to spot a Sirius Black wannabe, trying to ask a girl out. It was sheer bad luck for the boy if his idol walked past, as the girl in question would probably stare in his direction for a while and hurriedly excuse herself. But, of course, nobody came anywhere near to the real Sirius. 

At present, his best friend was prattling on again, somewhat destroying the peace beneath the trees.

"Isn't she beautiful Sirius? A perfect wonder. And she's going out with ME, James Potter. Unbelievable, eh?" he said rapturously.

"Yeah, unbelievable." Sirius muttered distractedly.

He was still watching her from the shadows. Every now and then she'd glance back over and look away quickly, abashed at his steady gaze upon her. This only broke when James crossed his line of vision and made his way towards the group of girls, swaggering along, throwing the Snitch in front of him and catching it once again. He bent down once he reached Lily and kissed her softly before sitting down beside her, his arm about her waist.

Remus sighed. "Lily Potter... it doesn't have that ring to it, does it? This _affaire d'amour_ will never go anywhere. He's done this before- obsessing and dismissing. _Lily Lupin_, now there's a good ring!" Sirius looked at his friend sharply.

"Don't worry Sirius! You of all people should know I have no interest in Lily. I'm more prepared to obsess over and dismiss the fair haired one seated next to her."

"I had no doubt about that Remus. You've been trying to get her for months. And besides, I know you wouldn't go after Lily because, after all, James IS our friend. To turn against James would be like... like to betray your own soul! Don't you agree Peter?"

"Y-yes, yes Sirius, quite! Could never go against your friends!" declared the chubby, watery-eyed teenager.

"Why you little..." growled Sirius, pretending to punch Peter, who shied away in alarm.

"Relax Wormtail, you don't really believe I'd hurt you? Just a joke!" he said innocently putting up his hands.

"O-one day, you're really going to hurt someone with that fist of yours!" Peter yelled, rising from the ground.

"You're so twitchy Peter, you look like a madman! Learn to just...chill..." Sirius said, leaning his head against the bark of the tree, his black hair falling into his eyes.

Sirius had not been the only one looking at Lily Evans. The heavily lidded, brown eyes of Bellatrix Black stared suspiciously at Lily. Surrounded by the usual crowd of Slytherins, she surveyed the redhead, dislike scrawled across her face. Bellatrix was every bit as beautiful as Lily Evans, but few people saw this, as she very rarely relaxed her features into a genuine smile. The constant sneer upon her face rendered her unapproachable and harsh, which, in a manner of speaking, was true. A tall girl, with an elegantly poised figure, a luscious black mane of hair which trailed across her shoulders and far excelling in Potions and Charms, Bellatrix Black was a worthy catch, but she would allow no one to become too close to her.

There was also the rumours about her other interests too. Dark interests, which could only lead to trouble. It was said that Bellatrix Black could perform the Unspeakable Curses to perfection. "Evans seems to think she's all that, doesn't she?" she drawled to nobody in particular.

Snape flushed at this comment, his lank hair dragged back into a ponytail, quivered as he answered.

"Well, Bella, what cause has she to think she isn't all that? After all, she's going out with perfect Potter, Quidditch champ extraordinaire. Plus, I'll bet she hasn't broken a nail today, therefore proving her invincible." He stated this to peals of laughter. Everybody knew how Lily prided herself.

"Then again, if that was me dating Potter, I think I'd kill myself." More laughter.

"Why would Potter ever ask you out Severus?" Rodolphus asked Snape.

Bellatrix unpinched her mouth for a few brief moments at her fianc's sharp tongue. The Slytherins howled with laughter at Rodolphus. Sirius and Remus looked over to see what was so funny and Sirius' eye caught Bella's. A spark of hatred emanated between the two, before Sirius broke contact and made his way over to Lily and James. The furrow on Bellatrix's forehead deepened as she observed the action. Sirius said something to James, who swivelled around to see Bellatrix and the other Slytherins. He flared his nostrils slightly and turned back to Lily.

Bellatrix was startled out of her reverie by Rodolphus running his finger down her face. Rodolphus Lestrange was a thickset lad with a square jaw and heavy features. His dark hair matched Bella's, although it was in a shorter style. Rodolphus had a small goatee at the end of his chin, which tickled Bellatrix as he nuzzled her cheek. His physique had something of the Beater about it, but he firmly believed in not getting involved with what he called, "the dregs of society congregating in one field." He shared Bella's, and most of her family's, distaste for Muggle-borns and Muggles in general. In fact, he loathed them. The Lestranges were an old wizarding family, much like the Blacks, and all in their power had to be done to keep the pure bloodline going.

"You're pathetic Rodolphus. Why don't you go fawn over your father instead of me? You're so good at that you see, darling," she said, smiling sweetly.  
  
"Once we're married Bella..."

"Once we're married? You know the only reason I agreed to this was to keep the pure bloodline running. It has nothing to do with you. I would have married Snape if he had asked me."

Rodolphus gave her an angry glare, but he recognized the truth of the statement. His father had told him to marry one of the Black girls to keep the line clean. As Bellatrix was the prettiest he had opted for her. Love had not come into the equation for either of them. It was merely a marriage of convenience.

"I've had enough of this," she said abruptly.

Bellatrix moved away from the Slytherin group and strode over to where Lily, James and Sirius were.

"Hello cousin,"she said scathingly to Sirius. "Enjoying the view?"

"Bella, always a pleasure..." he mocked.

"Lily," she said, turning around to face her. "I feel it is my absolute duty to tell you that James there isn't actually that good in bed." Lily flushed and put her head down. Bellatrix smirked again, as the band of Slytherins had followed her and were now standing behind her like bodyguards.

"I'm sure Severus could tell you the whole story of the Potter escapade." Snape grinned, exposing yellowish teeth, highlighting his sallow skin. Anything to piss off James and co. was welcomed by him with open arms, even if it ridiculed him in the process. Rodolphus slung his arm about her shoulder as she continued.

"It's highly amusing I promise you! It all began when James asked Snape to The Three Broomsticks..." but she was interrupted as a fist flew at her stomach. Sirius was on his feet, breathing heavily, looking disdainfully at Bellatrix, writhing on the floor.

"Black! Wait 'til I..." yelled Rodolphus. His wand was out, pointing at Sirius' chest. Sirius, likewise, had his want pointed at Bellatrix.

"What would you do, _Rody_, if I obliterated your chance of a pureblood marriage, this instant?" James was now on his feet, a hand on Sirius' arm.

"Lower it Padfoot," he pleaded. "She's not worth it... plus she is your own cousin."

"That piece of shit is in no way related to me."

"Sirius, I think it's best you lower your wand!" declared Remus. "If anything were to happen to Bellatrix by your wand, imagine the chaos there would be in the Black household."

"I relish chaos, my friend, you should know that," he whispered, barely audible.

"Cousin, would it surprise you to learn that I know your secret?" Bellatrix asked from the arm of her fiancé. "Would it surprise you to learn that I know what haunts you in the dead of night?" she muttered sadistically.

Sirius blanched as he heard these words. He carefully put his wand back in its place.

"I think we need to talk Bella." He grasped her arm and led her towards the Forest.

"What do you know?" he asked tentatively. She had never seen him so agitated.

"I know that you have a dark secret, that you wouldn't want revealed to any of your friends... nor the rest of your family."

"That doesn't tell me what you know though, Bella. It would be so easy to hex you right now..."

"And do you really think that my friends wouldn't take some action on you, or the ones you love, Sirius? Don't be so naïve."

He stayed silent, knowing that, of course, she was right. He pushed away a strand of midnight black hair behind his ear and ran his hand through his immaculate locks.

"Do you remember, dear cousin, when we were very little children and you stole some of that bitch's, Andromeda's, tarts? I knew that you had taken them, didn't I? But I kept your secret... for a price. Do you remember that you had to give me half the tarts? It's the same now; I shall keep your dark secret from everybody if you hand over the tarts."

"What do you want Bella?" he asked warily. She paused, as if unsure as to what to do next. Like her cousin, she ran her hand through her hair and bit her lip awkwardly. Sirius' features were distorted and blurred because of the shadows of the trees. He was an indistinct figure; no tell tale features present on his face. A voice entered her mind

_Use him. Use the three if you have to. But get him all the same._

Bellatrix stirred blankly at Sirius for a few seconds or so. Sirius held a look of mild confusion as she caught her breath and seemed to return to the present.

"I need a favour. A big favour Sirius, do you understand?" Sirius was about to ask what this favour was when the calm was broken with a loud bang. They looked from one to the other and realization dawning upon them, hurried to the lake.

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	2. Family values

Disclaimer- I don't own any of these characters etc. etc. J.K. Rowling does. All I own is the plot line. Please don't sue me.  
  
Chapter 2- Family values

There was utter commotion beneath the trees. The Slytherins and the Gryffindors had come together into an enormous rabble. Sparks of red, green and blue bounced off friends and enemies alike, as the mass of people snarled and clawed at their opponents. Several people lay on the floor, hexed and bruised. A few of the remaining people had discarded their wands and were rolling on the floor, punching and kicking.

Lily was bending over one of her friends who had fainted and had conjured stretchers for a few other people. Remus was helping her, but James was engaged in pounding Snape's head on the ground viciously.

"What did I tell you Lily? Lover's tiff!" yelled Bellatrix who ran quickly towards the group.

Sirius snarled at this and shouted, "Stupefy!" in Bellatrix's direction.

She stopped in mid stride, and, open mouthed, she fell to the floor, her eyes glossy with hatred. Sirius stepped over his hexed cousin and jumped into the fray. Rodolphus noticed Sirius' attack on his fiancé and rushed over to see if Bella was still intact. He could tell by the glimmer in her eyes that if he left her there, he would hear no end to the incident and would not be able to marry any of the Black sisters. Hurriedly, he reversed Sirius' hex and helped her up.

Bellatrix snarled at him and ran over to where Sirius was engaged in making Snape eat grass with James. It seemed that Sirius turned in slow motion as Bellatrix yelled "_Reducto_!" at the top of her lungs, waving her wand at him, a murderous look besmearing her features.

Sirius sailed ten feet into the air and landed with a loud crunch on a branch overhead. He screamed in agony but managed to throw an Expelliarmus spell at Bellatrix, who dodged it and swivelled around to yell Impedimenta in response, her black robes swirling about her like a layer of black fog. Sirius' eyes went wide and he let out a strangled yell as he fell to the floor in a heap, frozen. His face was contorted into an expression of sheer fright and his arm and leg lay at right angles to his body. Bellatrix stood triumphantly over the paralysed Sirius and twiddled her wand in an immaculately manicured hand. Her black hair blew in the breeze and wafted in front of her face as the brown eyes stared down mercilessly at her cousin.

_ By whatever means_

She slid her hand into her robes, pulling out what appeared to be a tooth and reached down to the immobile Sirius. She grasped his arm and was about to place the tooth into his hand when she was suddenly struck in the back by Remus Lupin. Lily Evans had sprinted over to Sirius when she saw him fall out of the tree.

"You heartless cow!" she yelled tearfully. "He's your cousin!"

"Quoting from Sirius, Lily, that piece of shit is in no way related to me," she spat, as Lupin pulled her head back by her hair.

Lily fell to her knees beside Sirius as he began to revive.

"Bellatrix, "Lupin growled, "I think you owe somebody an apology."

Sirius moaned on the ground, but above him, he caught sight of a friendly, if distressed, face.

"Lily?" he whispered, "Where the hell am I?" As he asked this, his face darkened with the memory of Bella's jinx. He tried to sit up, and before he flopped back down, he saw his cousin in the grip of Remus. She was twisting about and demanding to be released.

"Sirius, you have to relax. You've got a broken leg and arm, not to mention some bruises," she added, delicately touching a purpling bruise at the corner of his mouth. Their eyes met, without the contempt of before, but she slid her bright green eyes away from his own, near- black ones.

"You'll be at the hospital wing in no time." He smiled weakly; Lily always kept a level head in an unpleasant situation. She stood up, but he gripped her hand hard, preventing her from leaving his side.

"I have to conjure you a stretcher and my wand is over by Lucinda, Sirius. I'll be right back, I promise."

Lily disentangled her hand from her friend's and retrieved her wand quickly, throwing James a disapproving expression as he continued to fight Snape. She would have attempted to stop him if there weren't more pressing things to worry about all around her. As it was, there was no need. James instantly recognized Lily's displeasure and with one final kick, left Snape on the ground and made his way towards Sirius and Lupin.

Lucinda was already on her stretcher, which was drifting off towards the Castle, followed by about six more in its wake. When she returned, Lily gently placed Sirius on the stretcher, with the help of James and Sirius. James had a bad gash on his forehead and Remus sported a black eye and a nasty graze on his cheek, not to mention that he had been turned blue by one of the Slytherins. He had left Bellatrix behind, and she was now retreating to the Castle, following the eerie stretchers. Rodolphus was on one of them, but she completely ignored her fiancé as she sprinted past into the confines of the building.

They began to traipse back to the Castle, leading Sirius' stretcher. The huge clock tower in the courtyard had struck six by the time Sirius was safely bestowed to Madame Provideo's care. The hospital wing was large and airy, and many of the beds were surrounded by thick curtains, guaranteeing the patient within some extent of privacy. Sirius was granted no such privilege, however. The school nurse had healed his arm and leg within seconds, but the fussy lady was determined to keep him in the hospital wing overnight, "just in case." Just in case of what...nobody was quite sure, but this was just a further riddle of the curious nurse.

"James?"

"Hmm?"

"You can go to Lily if you want, I'm fine."

"Nah, s'alright Siz, I'll stay here for a bit."

"Don't call me Siz." "Why not Siz?"

"'Cos you make me sound like a fucking five year old... Jiz. Didn't you know that you're besmirching the noble house of Black?"

"Speaking of which, Siz... I've been meaning to ask you about this for ages. Now seems as good a time as any. It's just that... I couldn't help but notice how...err... distant you seem to your family." He said in a rush.

"How observant you are James. What gave you that impression?" he muttered sarcastically.

James flushed crimson at the statement. "Well, the way that you and Bella completely dismissed the fact that you were relations today, for one. Two, the way you talk about your family, as if they were mere acquaintances you wanted to be rid of. And exactly how long is it since you actually talked to your mum?"

"I'll have you know I sent her an owl two days ago!" Sirius said, outraged.

Madame Provideo popped her head around the door to her office at the exclamation. She greatly resembled a ferret, which had been caught in the middle of an engorgement charm, and was miraculously given the ability to speak and heal unfortunate teenagers.

"Would you care being quiet Mr Black and Mr Potter? There are other patients in this hospital trying to rest!"

"Sorry, Madame Provideo, we didn't realise we were disturbing your worthy self or your patients," Sirius said, turning on his fabled charm once again.

"Flattery won't work on me Mr Black. Now, quiet, or your friend will have to leave." Sirius nodded in a humble manner, one that James had seen too often. He rolled his eyes as Madame Provideo smiled indulgently at Sirius and retreated back into her office.

"You're pathetic Black," muttered a voice from the corner of the room.

Rodolphus Lestrange's head had appeared in a gap of the curtains surrounding his bed.

"Works every time though, Rody," said Sirius, reclining backwards. "Maybe if you had my talents, your darling fiancé wouldn't be so impervious to your obvious charm, eh?"

James tried to stifle a grin as Rodolphus withdrew back into his bed, sneering.

"_Accio_, dormitory curtains," Sirius commanded, with a swish of his wand.

Within two minutes or so, the curtains which surrounded Sirius' bed were at the hospital wing window, waiting to be let inside. James rushed over and released the catch on the windows. The floating, spectre like curtains drew stares from many of the other occupants and soon the air was full of "_Accio_ dormitory curtains!" and a great mass of red, blue, green and yellow material drifted into the room.

Sirius' were around his own bed in no time. James put a silencing charm around the bed so nobody could hear what the two friends had to say.

"Fucking Lestrange..." Sirius cursed.

"Anyways, you know perfectly what I meant Siz. When was the last time you actually spoke to your mum, verbally, not through small, feathery creatures? Why did you run away from Grimmauld Place?"

"Why do you want to know, James?" he asked suspiciously.

"Just curious, I guess. I mean, you haven't been to your own home in ages! At the summer, you always stay at the Hollow with me and my family. You stay here for any other holidays, and get anything you need sent by the fire, with that surly house-elf, Kreacher. What I'm trying to say, Sirius, is, what's going on?"

Sirius remained silent for a few minutes, apparently deep in thought.

"James, do you know about my cousin, Andromeda?" he asked. James shook his head bemusedly.

"Ah...well, it would have made explaining much easier. Never mind, Andromeda is Bellatrix's sister."

"Bellatrix? I thought she only had one sister, you know, Narcissa, the younger one engaged to Lucius Malfoy?"

"No. There were three sisters. Andromeda, the oldest, Bellatrix, the middle child, and Narcissa, the youngest. Well, Andromeda Black eloped with a Muggle, Ted Tonks, about two years ago now. She'll be about twenty one- twenty two I'd imagine. You probably know that the Black family aren't renowned for their, "Muggle loving," and are sometimes described as incapable of love altogether. But Andromeda was different. I suppose I was closer to her than all the rest of the Black's put together. Andromeda was, in many of the family's opinions, a hopeless case; worthless... but she was my favourite cousin, and still is in fact. When my Aunt and Uncle disowned her, I caused mayhem. I tried to reason that she had followed her own heart and was living the life she wanted. I tried to make them see the cruelty of their actions. But, I was only about sixteen myself, so nobody paid me much heed.

My mother, however, was ashamed of me; she vowed not to speak openly to me again. In her eyes, I was as bad as Andromeda. She decided to entrust everything to Regulus instead of me. I know I never told you this James, and I hope you can forgive me. So, you see, my mother disowned me. I ran away. So you can see, James, I am a type of outcast of the family, the Black sheep, as it were. I was sorted into Gryffindor, breaking the tradition of all children belonging in Slytherin. My mother can't bear to think that her eldest son has become a Muggle lover, so that's why I don't go home for the holidays. That's why I haven't spoken to my own mum or brother for years."

"And, has nobody heard from Andromeda since?"

"There was a rumour that she's pregnant a few months ago and that if it's a girl, it'll be called Nymphadora, if it's a boy, Sirius, but I haven't heard from her directly for a long time."

"I didn't realise, Siz. That's so...upsetting."

"Now you wanna go to Lily, don't you?" Sirius said, laughing. "I suppose, though, that she must be happy. She's free from any family constraints that money would have brought and she never has to speak to her charming relations ever again. "

"No, Siz, seriously, what have Bellatrix and Narcissa made of the whole affair?"

"Narcissa has always been stuck up. Now she's engaged to that prick, Malfoy, for the sake of a pure bred marriage. Even though she's only sixteen and Lucius is a good few years older than her. I'm quite sure that's the only reason Bella is engaged to Rodolphus too... the pure bloodline is all that matters to them. So that should give you some idea to what they think about their own sister. Narcissa claims she only has, and only ever had, one sister and Bellatrix, well, you know what Bellatrix is like from today's display I presume. She was furious at Andromeda. She vowed that when she saw her next, that would be the last time Andromeda would breathe."

James nodded, "So, I guess that's what you meant when you said she wasn't related to you?"

"Well, yeah, and the fact that she was spreading lies about you."

"I'm touched," James said in a faint voice, putting his hand over his heart.

Sirius let out a great, barking laugh.

"Well, would you rather I aided her in spreading the truth about you and Snape, hmmm?" he asked. James Potter grinned and stood up.

"I really must be going now, Siz."

"Ahem, cough cough," Sirius said in a mocking tone.

"Right, Sizzy doodle bum it is then. But now, I really must go about my duties as head boy."

"Visiting Lily Evans's room? I wasn't aware that that was a duty! Should have tried for head boy myself then. "

"Actually, Sirius, I take my duties seriously. There's a fifth year Slytherin I've been waiting to give detention to for a week."

"Why's that then?"

"Nothing much, he stole my Snitch and told me I was a ponsy twat. Now it's time for revenge," he added with a wicked smile.

"Please, don't ever do that again." James backed away from his friend slowly, still with the sinister, clown like smile upon his face.

"Oh, James!"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think maybe Prongs and Moony could escape the dormitory, about midnight, to meet Padfoot by the Quidditch stadium?"

"Almost certain of it Siz. 'Night."


	3. The visitation

Disclaimer- I don't own the characters etc. J.K. does. However, I DO own the plotline.

a/n- it would be nice to get some reviews. It seems as though I'm writing this for nobody.

Chapter 3- The visitation   
Sirius lay in the hospital bed that night, tossing about, waiting until midnight. The room was silent, apart from the soft sighs from neighbouring beds and the occasional moan. The hospital door creaked open, and Sirius immediately stopped his restless dance. Soft footsteps were heard to enter the room and pause. Sirius strained to listen to the intruder. Haltingly, they made their way over to his bed. Sirius' breath caught in his throat as he heard the advancement. A tiny chink of light from a candle entered the confines of his bed as the person opened his curtains. He sat up in the bed, groping for his wand on the bedside table.

"Sirius?" whispered the timid voice of Lily Evans.

"Oh my God! Lily, what are you doing here? You scared me half to death!"

Lily Evans, clothed in a burgundy dressing gown, her hair hanging loose down her back, entered the confines surrounding Sirius. She placed the candle on his bedside table, illuminating each of them. Sirius was still breathing rapidly from her sudden entrance. Her pale skin seemed to glow in the candlelight and her green eyes met his own. She was standing awkwardly beside him, shifting from one foot to the other.

"You alright, Lily?"

"I'm fine, just a bit cold really. Can I sit down?"

"Sure." He pulled back the covers to the bed and moved up to give her room. Lily eyed this action and hesitantly sat on the very edge of the bed.

"I don't bite, you know. Well, I do, but I won't bite you. You said you were cold didn't you?"

She smiled and got into the bed, pulling the covers over them both. She wriggled about a bit, making herself comfortable before she lay down and faced Sirius.

"That's much better," she said, with a twinkle in her eye. The bed was very narrow, so Sirius lent up on one elbow and looked down at Lily.

"This is a strange time to go and visit the invalids, Lily. Why did you come, if not for the sole purpose of scaring me half to death?"

She laughed quietly, "I am sorry, my friend. I didn't come here with the express wish of scaring the hell out of you."

"Hmmm, I believe you. But was there any particular reason for this sojourn?"

Lily sighed and traced the pattern on the pillow with her fingers. Sirius found himself observing her troubled countenance closely. He wanted to take her into his arms and tell her everything would be alright, but, of course, that was impossible, so he contented himself with smiling encouragingly.

"Sirius, truthfully now, does James really care for me?"

"Of course he cares for you Lily. We all do!"

"It's just that... you're his best friend, you know him the best. I need the truth. Everybody knows how many people he's been out with, I ... need to know if I'm just one of those girls who he will forget about."

She looked up expectantly at Sirius, whose forehead was creased into a slight frown.

"The thing is though, he's moving so fast as well. I mean, a few months ago, I couldn't stand him. But now, he's even talking of marriage! I don't know what to do with myself around him. Was he like this with the others?"

"Well, he has been obsessive over one or two... Jesus, Lily! I'm not the one to come to with these types of things!" he exclaimed.

"Marriage?!" he asked, the full meaning of the word striking him, all at once.

"Yes," she nodded, "as soon as we leave Hogwarts."

Sirius stared into space for a while, shocked beyond reason.

"B-but, you're still young! Whoa, I- I'm sorry, this has just come as a bit of a shock."

"Sirius, I just, I don't know if I'm ready to commit to James and James alone, forever! And, in a little while, I don't think that James will want to wake up to my face for the rest of his life."

Sirius frowned. "Is there somebody else Lily?"

"I'm not sure, Sirius. Possibly, but I know nothing can come of it."

"Why not?"

"Because I know that it would break James' heart. I couldn't bear to live with the knowledge that I had done that. He is deadly serious about this marriage as well, Sirius, just how long he will remain serious is beyond me."

"Well, Lily, I think we both know the reason why James wants to marry you." She looked at him questioningly.

"Voldemort."

At the mere mention of his name, Lily shuddered and looked downcast.

"Are we all going through with it though?"

"I know that I am. I mean, what else can I do? I'd rather join Dumbledore's Order than sit at home and watch. And I'm pretty sure that if I join, James will. We all know that there's a small chance of survival, so James probably wants to keep you safe in his own way."

"I suppose. It's just that, I couldn't bear to marry him and then be parted from him. It would be too much to handle... I'd go mad, Sirius!"

"Well, do you have to marry him?"

"I don't have to... but I wouldn't mind it. He's changed so much; he's not a cocky, arrogant, bastard anymore. I do love him, Sirius, just how much, I'm not entirely sure."

"I understand."

"Promise me you won't tell anybody this. Please, Sirius."

"I promise Lily. I just hope you make your mind up soon, for all our sakes."

"You know, you're not making this better."

"Oh, right, sorry. Remember though, Remus and I will always support you, whatever you decide. Even Peter will, I suppose."

"Poor Peter. Without you three, he'd be helpless," she said, giggling slightly.

"He's been acting strange lately. I don't know what's come over him."

Sirius glanced over to the bedside cabinet, where his Muggle watch lay, illuminated by the light of Lily's candle. It was fifteen minutes until midnight.

"Hey, Lily, I don't mean to be rude, but it's been a hard day, I need some rest."

"It's a lot for me too, you know! You're not the one who's being bombarded with wedding ideas day and night," she said, smiling.

"Broke my leg and arm, Lily."

"Right, I'd best be going then. Hadn't I? I know when I'm not wanted. I'll see you tomorrow, Sirius."

He laughed at this and settled back down, under the pretence of going to sleep. With that, Lily reached over and kissed him softly on the cheek. "Thanks, Sirius."

Bellatrix Black sat in her dormitory, completely satisfied with the night's work. She had passed Lily Evans by the Entrance Hall, earlier that evening.

####

_"Lily! Please, come quickly. I- I don't know what's wrong with her!" pleaded Bella, tearfully. _

_"What's wrong Bellatrix?" _

_"It's Lisbeth Broom! She's fallen down the great staircase and she's badly hurt. There's nobody else about! Please, help me!" _

_"Of course I'll help, Bella," she said, a look of concern spreading across her face. _

_"Where exactly is she hurt?" _

_"She's bashed her head and she won't wake up!" _

_"We must be quick then. Quickly, go fetch Madame Provideo." _

_"Right." Bella hurried off in the direction of the hospital wing as Lily made her way to the Great Staircase.  
Once she got there, she spotted a pile of robes at the foot of the stairs and made her way towards them. _

_"Lisbeth? Can you hear me, Lisbeth?" Lily reached the robes and looked down, confused. There was nobody there, just a pile of Slytherin laundry. _

_"What on Earth...?" _

_"_**Specto**_," whispered a voice behind her. Lily's mind went blank; she forgot why she was at the foot of the stairs, where she had been going, everything. _

_"W-what?" _

_"Oh, Lily! Are you alright?" asked the concerned voice of Bellatrix._

_ "W-where was I going?" _

_"I don't know, perhaps to see Sirius?" asked Bella, grinning. _

_"Yes... yes I was," she whispered, her thoughts returning. "Where's Lisbeth?" _

_"She must have been alright after all. I'll bet she's gone back to the common room." _

_"What on Earth is all this laundry doing here?" _

_"House-elf must have dropped it. You'd better go, Lily, I'll take care of it." Lily didn't question the thoughtfulness of Bella's actions. She merely turned away and walked towards the hospital wing. _

_Bellatrix watched Lily leave. Everything that Lily saw, she could see. The scratching on that door, the uneven step right there. Bellatrix saw Lily enter the hospital wing. She saw everything played out in front of her. She was right about that fool, this just confirmed his secret. _

_#### _

"Shh, Lupin! Put the cloak on quickly!"

"Hang on! I just need to..." "Remus!"

"Fine, fine." Remus dived under James' invisibility cloak, just as Frank Longbottom sat up, trying to spot where the voices had come from.

"H-hello? Who's there?"

Silence.

They must have waited, 10, 15 minutes before Frank finally settled down to sleep again.

"You're so noisy, Remus."

"I am not! You're the one who kept making me hurry up!"

"Shush."

"I am shushed."

The pair made their way down to the Entrance Hall, where they saw Lily, looking drained and confused, walking past them, back towards the Gryffindor Tower.

"Li..." Before James could continue, Remus had trodden on his foot. Lily looked around to where they were standing, but decided she was hearing things and turned away once more.

"We're invisible, you prick."

"I know! I'm not stupid! Let's just carry on walking."

They left the Castle and hurried over to the Quidditch pitch, where they spotted a great black dog sitting there patiently.

"Sirius!" The dog morphed before their eyes into Sirius Black.

The transformation was quick and in a moment he was bounding towards them. Remus and James had discarded the Invisibility Cloak, and so could hug their friend properly without injury.

"Thank God you didn't tell Peter."

"How come?"

"He's just been annoying me more than usual lately. He seems- extra twitchy... I don't know..."

"So... what are we doing?"

"Well... I thought that we could wonder around Hogsmeade for a little bit?"

"Sirius, Moony doesn't transform until next week! What's this all about?"

"I just felt like getting out of the Castle for a while."

"You're insane man. Totally wild."

"Well, of course I am! I mean, how many other people do you know with a flying motorbike?"

"Granted."

"So, are we going to go or are you going to mooch about the Castle all night, observing the different breeds of Prefects?"

"Hey! I resent that!"said Remus.

The trio laughed at Remus, the only one amongst them to be made a prefect.

"And here with us today we have the lesser- spotted werewolf prefect!" Remus grinned, shyly at the comment.

"So, are we going out or not?"

"I'm alright with it Siz, Remus?"

"Well, it would be interesting... so long as we're back before dawn."

"Remus, cloak yourself." Sirius commanded in a terrible tone.

And with that, he transformed back into his dog form. In the place of James was a mighty stag, and Lupin had completely disappeared.

_Remember to review please._


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